sp. treated with voriconazole and fluconazole. Kurita et al. (1981) suggested that the antifungal activity of essential oil components, particularly aliphatic aldehydes, might be due to their ability to form charge transfer complexes with electron donors in the fungus cell.
The results of the present study not only support the finding that the essential oils possess antifungal activity against A. flavus, but also give a clear indication of the extent of inhibition of toxin production. The significant reduction of aflatoxin production sug- gests that phytochemical compounds could be used alone or in conjunction with other substances or processes to control the pres- ence of toxic metabolites in spices. Further studies to characterize the active compound, define toxicity and evaluate economic feasi- bility are being explored. However, there is need for further in depth studies to formulate cost effective and ecologically friendly
biopreservatives such as a-phellandrene and terpinolene to im-
prove the storage life of spices in general.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for supporting the investigation through an Ad hoc scheme and to the Director, IISR, Calicut for encouragement and for providing facilities to carry out the work.
References